Thought Bubbles by Ruthie

The subtle art of looking busy is something of a necessity in the hospitality world. It’s a skill that won’t appear on job descriptions and you won’t get asked about it in an interview. But if you don’t master the subtle art of looking busy when working in hospitality, your co-workers and customers will become suspicious. 

There are many genuinely busy times in the hospitality world. You’re sometimes running around the place, often in organised chaos, trying to get everything done. There are customers to serve, surfaces to clean, food and drink to restock, and a long list of small tasks to do. But there are also quiet moments when nearly everything is done. 

In these moments, you must realise that some of the teapots are stacked in marginally different directions and urgently need straightening. Or that there are some miniscule crumbs on a table that need wiping off. Or maybe, god forbid, the stack of napkins is ever so slightly skewiff. It is in these patches of time that you must move your attention to these small but almighty tasks with great reverence. 

You must push out of your mind that the world will in fact continue to spin if you do not do these tasks. No, you must tell yourself, these are not pointless tasks. These are vital. Not because anyone will spot the miniscule crumb but because they will notice you standing still and not doing anything. These are the things that will help you master the subtle art of looking busy. 

But what is wrong with standing around doing nothing, if there is practically nothing to do? That is a good question. And one that I was mulling over whilst I was meticulously moving the teaspoons in a small container.  

I concluded that we live in a society that values being busy. And simply not doing anything is a cause for concern. We regularly respond to the question ‘How are you?’ with an answer that could be equally appropriate for the question ‘How busy are you?’. We overexaggerate what we do in order to make ourselves seem busy. We’re suspicious of friends who have ‘done nothing all weekend.’ What do you mean ‘done nothing’? Surely you’ve done something?! This suspicion of nothingness extends to the hospitality world. 

Maybe we all need to get more comfortable with doing nothing. Maybe we should all stop pretending to be busy if we don’t have to be. In hospitality and elsewhere. We should just accept that standing, or sitting, or walking, is enough. Perhaps for us all to master the subtle art of looking busy, we have to all accept that sometimes it’s ok to do nothing.